Results 1-20 of 3,691 for speaker:Baroness Taylor of Bolton

Queen's Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (19 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, this has indeed been a very well-informed and wide-ranging debate. I will endeavour to cover as many topics as possible, but it may be impossible to deal with every item that has been raised. I am sure that the House will understand that I want to spend much of my time talking about Afghanistan, as the noble Lord did. I am afraid that, as too often on these occasions, I must start...

Queen's Speech — Debate (2nd Day) (19 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I am happy to clarify that point. It is not the case that the Ministry of Defence is overspent because of operations. The operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been extremely important. It is significant that the money for those operations has come from the Treasury. It is a big commitment. Around £18 billion has come from the Treasury for operations since 2001, on top of the...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: A400M (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my honourable friend, the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, in another place on 12 October 2009, ( Official Report, cols 424W and 425W).

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Fatalities (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The number of British military fatalities for the First and Second World War is held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Ministry of Defence holds records on fatalities from 1948, with the exception of fatalities on operation in Palestine where MoD records start from 1945. Conflict has been defined as operations for which campaign medals have been awarded. The number of British...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Helicopters (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: No decisions with regard to maintaining the Apache helicopter beyond its current out-of-service date of 2030 have yet been made.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Helicopters (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The UK MoD has a fleet of 70 Merlin aircraft that are currently in service. The Merlin Mk1 which is used by the Royal Navy entered service in March 1999. The Merlin Mk 3 entered service in June 2000 and the Merlin Mk3a achieved initial operating capability in March 2008; both of these are used by the RAF. The first Merlin to be deployed in Afghanistan has just arrived, and others will follow...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Helicopters (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: There is no delay to the Puma upgrade programme. The contract was placed in mid-September 2009 and is progressing to schedule. We expect that the upgrade programme will be completed by the end of 2014.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Helicopters (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Following the Defence Select Committee's review into battlefield helicopters in June 2009, we have been looking again at our future helicopter strategy, including whether there is an opportunity to replace some of our older types earlier than planned We concluded in September 2009 that we should proceed with the planned upgrade to the Puma fleet but have continued to review our plans for the...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Medical Treatment (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The MoD's Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation publishes on its website statistics on new attendances to the MoD's in-patient contractor, effective back to 2007. Equivalent verified data prior to 2007 are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. New patients assessed as having a mental disorder and admitted to the MoD's in-patient contractor by...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Nimrod (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The planned in-service date of the Nimrod MRA4 is December 2010.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Royal Gibraltar Regiment (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The primary role of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment is to support the defence and security of Gibraltar. Deployments in support of other tasks have been undertaken by individual volunteers; 15 personnel from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment have deployed on operations in Afghanistan between August 2004 and February 2009. Since then there has been a temporary suspension in volunteers being deployed...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Staff (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The following table gives strength of the trained UK regular forces by service and nationality as at 1 April 1997 and 2009. Strength of the Trained UK Regular Forces by Service and nationality as at 1 April 1997, 2009 Number 01 Apr 97 01 Apr 09 All Services 193 630 168 240P UK .. 159 380P Non-UK .. 7 670P Unknown .. 1 190P Naval Service 41 680 34 400P...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Type 45 Destroyers (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: There are six ships being built as part of the Type 45 Destroyers Programme and all six are in various stages of build, including five ships in the water. The first of class, DARING, is expected to enter service in early 2010 while the remaining five vessels Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon, Defender and Duncan will enter service progressively through to the middle of the next decade.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: Typhoon (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: We currently have no plans to retrofit RAF Typhoons with thrust vectoring nozzles.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Armed Forces: War Pensions (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: As I advised my noble friend in the Answer I gave on 5 October 2009 ( Official Report, col. WA 462), no arrears of payment of unemployability supplement were made by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency as a result of this change. Any arrears that accrued would have been for state pension, which falls within the responsibilities of the Department for Work and Pensions, and which does...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Ascension Island (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Our assessment of whether the services received from the Ascension Island Government represent best value for money takes into account not only the quality and quantity of services received but also the value of services provided by the MoD to the Island authorities and community. The taxation regime in Ascension Island together with the services provided by the MoD are unique and therefore...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Ascension Island (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: This issue has not been raised formally with the United States Government or the United States Air Force. However, routine discussions on issues on Ascension Island affecting both the UK and USA regularly take place.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Ascension Island (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The decision by the Ascension Island Government to remove a variation in the Ministry of Defence's annual property tax liability, which had the effect of almost doubling the tax payable, is still in dispute. Discussions are still ongoing to resolve the issue and we await the outcome of the HMRC-led study, supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, into tax arrangements on Ascension Island.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Elections: Armed Forces (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The report of a survey on service voter registration conducted by Defence Analytical Services and Advice in November 2008 provides an estimate of the number of service personnel who are currently registered to vote and draws comparison with the results of similar surveys carried out in each of the previous three years. The survey indicates that 65 per cent of service personnel were registered...

Written Answers — House of Lords: NATO: Baltic States (12 Nov 2009)

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Collective defence and deterrence remains NATO's core purpose. Under Article V of the Washington treaty, an armed attack against any ally is considered an attack against all 28. Threat assessments and the requirement for contingency planning are reviewed as required, and are routinely considered in the North Atlantic Council, NATO's Military Committee and Allied Command Operations. With...